Concentric ring structures as efficient SERS substrates

Plasmonic nanopatterned structures that can work as highly efficient surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates are presented in this study. A 'coupled' concentric ring structure has been designed, fabricated, tuned, and compared to an 'etched' concentric ring structure and plain gold film via SERS experiments. The proposed design gives Raman signal intensity 630 times larger than plain gold film and 8 times larger than an 'etched' concentric ring structure. The surface plasmons were imaged with the fluorescence imaging technique and supporting numerical simulations were done. © 1995-2012 IEEE

Implications of the Use of Grazing Sheep on Kiwi Fruit Orchard

In the southern part of Brazil there is an important area of kiwi fruit, mainly cultivated by small farmers. The use of sheep under trees of kiwi fruits could be an interesting alternative for small farmers to reduce their mowing costs, to improve their income and to provide meat for the farmers\u27 family. However there is a lack of information about the damage that the animals could cause to kiwi fruit plants. The objective of this study was to monitor the effect of the use of sheep on a kiwi fruit orchard

A lipidomic based metabolic age score captures cardiometabolic risk independent of chronological age

Background Metabolic ageing biomarkers may capture the age-related shifts in metabolism, offering a precise representation of an individual’s overall metabolic health. Methods Utilising comprehensive lipidomic datasets from two large independent population cohorts in Australia (n = 14,833, including 6630 males, 8203 females), we employed different machine learning models, to predict age, and calculated metabolic age scores (mAge). Furthermore, we defined the difference between mAge and age, termed mAgeΔ, which allow us to identify individuals sharing similar age but differing in their metabolic health status. Findings Upon stratification of the population into quintiles by mAgeΔ, we observed that participants in the top quintile group (Q5) were more likely to have cardiovascular disease (OR = 2.13, 95% CI = 1.62–2.83), had a 2.01-fold increased risk of 12-year incident cardiovascular events (HR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.45–2.57), and a 1.56-fold increased risk of 17-year all-cause mortality (HR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.34–1.79), relative to the individuals in the bottom quintile group (Q1). Survival analysis further revealed that men in the Q5 group faced the challenge of reaching a median survival rate due to cardiovascular events more than six years earlier and reaching a median survival rate due to all-cause mortality more than four years earlier than men in the Q1 group. Interpretation Our findings demonstrate that the mAge score captures age-related metabolic changes, predicts health outcomes, and has the potential to identify individuals at increased risk of metabolic diseases

SiC substrate effects on electron transport in the epitaxial graphene layer

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Hall effect measurements on epitaxial graphene (EG) on SiC substrate have been carried out as a function of temperature. The mobility and concentration of electrons within the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the EG layers and within the underlying SiC substrate are readily separated and characterized by the simple parallel conduction extraction method (SPCEM). Two electron carriers are identified in the EG/SiC sample: one high-mobility carrier (3493 cm(2)/Vs at 300 K) and one low-mobility carrier (1115 cm(2)/Vs at 300 K). The high mobility carrier can be assigned to the graphene layers. The second carrier has been assigned to the SiC substrate

Chemical Screening Method for the Rapid Identification of Microbial Sources of Marine Invertebrate-Associated Metabolites

Marine invertebrates have proven to be a rich source of secondary metabolites. The growing recognition that marine microorganisms associated with invertebrate hosts are involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites offers new alternatives for the discovery and development of marine natural products. However, the discovery of microorganisms producing secondary metabolites previously attributed to an invertebrate host poses a significant challenge. This study describes an efficient chemical screening method utilizing a 96-well plate-based bacterial cultivation strategy to identify and isolate microbial producers of marine invertebrate-associated metabolites

SiC Substrate effects on electron transport in the epitaxial graphene layer

Hall effect measurements on epitaxial graphene (EG) on SiC substrate have been carried out as a function of temperature. The mobility and concentration of electrons within the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the EG layers and within the underlying SiC substrate are readily separated and characterized by the simple parallel conduction extraction method (SPCEM). Two electron carriers are identified in the EG/SiC sample: one high-mobility carrier (3493 cm2/Vs at 300 K) and one low-mobility carrier (1115 cm2/Vs at 300 K). The high mobility carrier can be assigned to the graphene layers. The second carrier has been assigned to the SiC substrate. © 2014 The Korean Institute of Metals and Materials and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht